Surprise! Small eagle fly 3,000 km from habitat

AFP
21st April, 2017 01:06:01

Australian researchers have been left surprised by a rare bird of prey that travelled more than 3,000 km from its natural habitat.

Michael Mulvaney, a senior ecologist at the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Environment and Planning Directorate, said a tracker was attached to the rare little eagle to assess the impact of local developments on the native species.

He told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio on Friday that the bird was recorded travelling 3,300 km in less than three weeks to a small town in the Northern Territory (NT).

"We were surprised ... we weren't expecting our Canberra bird to go all the way to the Northern Territory, particularly as it's a breeding male which seems to have been breeding in the Canberra area since 2001," Mulvaney said.

"For it to just one day decide to head up north, that it's sick of the cold and to go that far was really surprising."

The eagle flew up to 500 km in a single day, reaching a top speed of 55 km per hour (kph).